Crusades and Crusaders in Medieval Greece 47
Byzantium, however, was given a new and unexpected lease of life. In July
1402, the Ottoman army was crushed at Ankara and Sultan Bayezid himself
was captured by the great Mongol conqueror Timur. This represented a rare
opportunity, and efforts to raise an anti-Ottoman crusade were continued with
Manuel’s active participation.64 Sigismund, who had not given up on the idea
of organising another expedition, seemed to offer the best prospect for leader-
ship. In 1420, Pope Martin v issued a crusade bull in support of Sigismund’s
planned campaign against the Turks in the Balkans. The pope similarly granted
indulgences to any westerners who would participate in the defence of the
Peloponnese or who would go to the aid of Constantinople.65 Like in the past,
however, no expedition took place.
The failure of crusading action to materialise might have appeared of lit-
tle consequence while the succession crisis kept the Ottomans busy. But as
order was restored under Murad ii, Turkish control of the Balkans was again
consolidated and started expanding at a fast pace. The unsuccessful siege of
Constantinople, in 1422, was followed by the capture of Thessalonica (1430)
and devastating raids into the Morea. The two most important Hungarian
allies and buffer states came next: Serbia came under sustained attack and the
Despot George Branković fled to Hungary, while Vlad Dracul of Wallachia sub-
mitted to Murad.66 In order to open the way for urgently needed western help,
the Byzantine emperor, John viii, led a numerous Greek delegation consisting
of some 700 ecclesiastics and laymen to a unionist council, first in Ferrara and
then in Florence. The Union of the Churches was proclaimed on 6 July 1439.67
A few months later, Pope Eugenius iv called all the Christian faithful to a
crusade against the Ottomans. As in Nicopolis, Hungary was expected to shoul-
der the main burden of the land campaign, offering the bulk of the troops.
Despite some delays, as the kingdom was embroiled in a civil war over the royal
succession, Hunyadi’s victories against the Turks in 1441–42 created a climate
of excitement, and Eugenius iv renewed his calls in early 1443.68 In October
of that year an army of 20,000–25,000 men crossed the Danube. It was com-
posed mainly by Hungarians, Poles, and Serbs, and was led by King Ladislas of
64 Barker, Manuel ii, pp. 215, 255–71, 320–85.
65 Aloysius L. Tautu, ed., Acta Martini pp. v (1417–1431), pc/cico, 2 vols. (Vatican, 1980),
nos. 63, 155, 155a, 229a.
66 Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, pp. 500–46; Harris, End of Byzantium, pp. 90–96, 106–28.
67 Joseph Gill, The Council of Florence (Cambridge, 1959); Harris, End of Byzantium,
pp. 127–54.
68 Georg Hofmann, ed., Epistolae pontificiae ad Concilium Florentinum spectantes, 3 vols.
(Rome, 1940–46), 2: nos. 127, 220; 3: nos. 261, 263, 266.